Intrusions

So I was jamming with my friend at his house, he was playing a nice beat on the drum setting on his keyboard and I was grooving over it.

All fine and dandy.

Next thing we know his dad comes downstairs plugs into his amp and is like "can I jam with you guys?" we say sure and he asks if I can play my little groove in A, so I switch to A and he throws a little riff over top and alls well.

Then he turns up his amp and busts into a 10 minute long full out jimi Hendrix solo. We stopped playing about 2 minutes in but he just kept going.

When he stopped he then said "you guys know hotel California?" So we start playing that and in the middle of the chorus bursts into yet another solo.

Since then we have stuck to playing at my house...

Any of you guys had any experiences like this that make you just shake your head?

My guitarist's dad is always wanting to step in and get involved, and make suggestions. The thing is, he doesn't play an instrument (he's a singer), and he knows absolutely no music theory.

However, the worst experience was when this old dude (no offense to you older folks who aren't d-nozzles) who was also a bassist came in to randomly jam with my band. First thing he did was to check out my bass, and proceed to tell me that it was a jazz bass when it was obviously a P.

Next, he thought he was going to teach me about the modes *rolls eyes*.

Finally, he heard us jam on an original song, and it caught his attention so he asked if he could jam it too.

He liked it so much, he decided he was going to record my band playing it with him on bass instead of me. I was pretty angry at that point, at both my band and this intruder. Then, he put it up on his youtube page, giving us no credit whatsoever.

The nerve of these old coots! Buying your instruments, giving you a heated practice space without a # on the door, putting up with all the beginning awfulness you undoubtedly subjected them to, and then those bastards have the nerve to want to participate for a few minutes. OMFG.

This world is clearly on a fast track to hell with this kind of stuff happening.

The nerve of these old coots! Buying your instruments, giving you a heated practice space without a # on the door, putting up with all the beginning awfulness you undoubtedly subjected them to, and then those bastards have the nerve to want to participate for a few minutes. OMFG.

This world is clearly on a fast track to hell with this kind of stuff happening.

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Participating is one thing. Taking control is a completely different thing.

I have no problem with people who can play jumping in, but as soon as they show they aren't team players or their ego is too big it fills the whole room, then it's over.

Seems that when someone tries to join in with a band 90% of the time they want to take over or impose their own musical views on the band. That is not cool, jammin along sure go ahead, but try and mold me to what you want. No thanks.

And stealing your song is a huge no no in any world, old person or young.

It sounds like the guy was just trying to get in on a little fun. He intruded once into what is probably hundreds of wasted teenage hours. And there's more where that came from. Have a heart, and jam for a few minutes.

The nerve of these old coots! Buying your instruments, giving you a heated practice space without a # on the door, putting up with all the beginning awfulness you undoubtedly subjected them to, and then those bastards have the nerve to want to participate for a few minutes. OMFG.

This world is clearly on a fast track to hell with this kind of stuff happening.

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ooooooh, you naughty old man. Best TB laugh all week.

I bought my sax playing brother's family a cahon for Christmas. He tells me my 2 year old nephew brought all the pots out of the cupboard the other day to jam on his lonesome, bro joined in on cahon. Made my day. Jazz trio in the pipeline for 2021.

this old dude (no offense to you older folks who aren't d-nozzles) who was also a bassist came in to randomly jam with my band.

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Dear Agony Aunt,

I am a 50 year old bassist (so probably qualify as "older folk" I guess) who sometimes jams with my kids' band, but I have no idea whether I am a d-nozzle or not. Is there some objective test for d-nozzle-ality? Please help.

D-nozzle-ness, with no disrespect intended for the majority of the population, is the condition of coming into a unfamiliar situation (regardless of your age), and displaying no respect for the players already there, who have put a significant amount of time and effort into what they do. Generally, this is a result of considering oneself more experienced, or more knowledgeable, or better at being a musician than the people you have come into jam with. Furthermore, any intentional, uncredited use of original material certainly qualifies.

In short, when you are walking into a new situation, and the players are friendly and respectful to you, a certain amount of grace in return is only fair to expect.

The short answer, Mike, is that so long as you're not being blatantly insulting, making snide comments, or recording with their band, uninvited, in place of an already existent band member who is not happy about the situation, then you're likely fine.